Sarasota's 12th Street wastewater treatment plant will get a $51 million rehabilitation after the City Commission approved the project Monday. The overhaul directly targets the aging pipes and pumps that failed during Hurricane Debby in August 2024, when at least 17 million gallons of sewage spilled into Sarasota Bay.

The project will be financed through a 20-year, low-interest loan from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The city has hired Palmetto-based TLC Diversified Inc. as the contractor, with construction scheduled to begin in summer 2027 and wrap up by the end of 2030, according to the city.

City Utilities Director Verne Hall told commissioners the upgrades are part of a broader infrastructure plan to keep the city's systems running through 2055.

"We don't just willy-nilly decide, 'Hey, let's go spend $51 million of the ratepayers' money,'" Hall said. "Everything that we do is done for a reason that is resiliency and environmental protection."

What the project includes

Workers will tear down three electrical buildings and consolidate them into one, with a new backup generator. The city will also rebuild three clarifiers, the cylindrical tanks that remove solid particles from water, and add a fourth. Deteriorating piping and pumps will be replaced.

Bay water quality

Ryan Gandy, executive director of the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, said the commission's vote is part of a broader trend. A decade ago, the bay endured repeated sewage spills of 100,000 to 500,000 gallons each, contributing to ecological decline. Recent wastewater investments by the city and Sarasota County have helped reverse that damage, according to Gandy, who noted that seagrass coverage across the bay has increased 19% since 2022.

Sarasota County is also expanding its three regional water reclamation facilities at Bee Ridge, Central County and Venice Gardens.

How to weigh in

The source reporting does not specify whether the commission's vote was unanimous or record how individual members voted. The five-member body is led by Mayor Debbie Trice and Vice Mayor Kathy Kelley Ohlrich.

The plant is old enough that a city spokesperson told Suncoast Searchlight an exact construction date could not be pinpointed, but improvement plans for the facility date to at least 1968. Residents can submit comments to the commission at [email protected].